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Zeno Bell and Dufort
Zeno Bell (ゼオン・ベル, Zeon Beru) and Dufort (フォン・デュフォー, Fon Dufō) are two characters in the manga/anime series Zatch Bell and the main antagonists for a large portion of the story, though they don't take over as the immediate threat until the Faudo Arc. Zeno Zeno Bell (Zeon Bell in the original) is a mamodo who looks exactly like Zatch Bell, save for his pastier colors and purple eyes. He is taller than Zatch and his teeth bears more resemblance to fangs, thus giving him a more aggresive look. His spells are the same as Zatch's, only more powerful; additionally, Zeno does not lose consciousness during the spells and thus knows what he is doing while they are being cast. His cloak also has magical abilities, allowing him to protect himself and his bookkeeper from harm, and to teleport himself and his bookkeeper to another location. He is very powerful, malevolent and evil, and bears a strong hatred towards humans but more importantly towards Zatch due to the fact that Zatch had inherited King Bell's "Bao" and was sent to a civilian school where he, Zeno believed, could spend his days playing about while Zeno himself had to endure harsh training everyday. He was extremely angry when he learnt that Zatch was one of the hundred mamodo to take part in the battle as he believed that his hardships were actually due to Zatch's existence. Zeno is Zatch's twin brother and the cause of his amnesia. As it is revealed in the manga, their father is the king of the Mamodo world: an electric elemental who possessed the ultimate power known as "Bao". When twins were born to him and his wife, the "Bao" power was given to Zatch and Zeno did not get it because the Bao loathes dark and evil souls and will devour him if he did not learn to control it. To protect both brothers, Zatch was sent away to live like a commoner, forced into near servitude by his foster mother and consistently teased and taunted by his classmates at a private school. Meanwhile, Zeno was forced to undertake a harsh, military training. When the silver-haired child found out about both his brother and the "Bao" power, he grew resentful, believing that this twin he never met would hold his father's ultimate ability without understanding the implications. With both children referred for the Mamodo Fight, Zeno continued his preparations, training his body as well as reading of certain items and artifacts that would assist him when sent to the human world. By the time Zeno was sent to take part in the Mamodo Battle, he took action in order to guarantee both his own victory and his brother's ultimate misery. After finding his bookkeeper, he tracked down Zatch to a forest in England, where he was living peacefully with the local fauna. Without saying who he was, Zeno brutally attacked the golden-haired lookalike, both physically abusing him and using his own spells to smash him down. But instead of burning his book, where he would instantly go home to his family and live peacefully in the mamodo world, he decided to remove his memories to force him to be stuck wandering around this strange, human world without any friends or any idea who he was. Shortly thereafter, Zatch was found by Seitaro Takamine, who eventually sent Zatch to Japan, so Seitaro's son, Kiyo, could try to find out Zatchh's origin, as well as to benefit Kiyo's personality. After seeing Zatch's memories, Zeno realizes that Zatch has suffered as well and regrets what he had done to Zatch, apologizing and stating that he had been a fool. Before going back to the the Mamodo world, Zeno gives Zatch his strength of lightning in order to stop Faudo and a letter which explained the special abilities of the mantle and the brooch. He was sent back to the Mamodo world after his book was burnt and lost his body, turning into a soul. His spirit appears to help Zatch in his battle with Clear. During the ceremony in which Zatch is crowned king, Zeno tells Zatch that they (Zatch's parents and him) will be waiting in the ceremonial hall. He scolds Yuno, Zatch's foster mother, who was now working in the palace, stating that throwing her into jail after how she treated Zatch was not too unthinkable. In the one-shot gaiden that was created in March 2011, Zeno does not make an appearance but is mentioned by one of Zatch's classmates, who, after being grouped with Zatch, immediately stated "Oh no! I am in the same group as the king, If I mess up, I will be killed by Zeno!", hinting that Zeno has become highly protective of Zatch after the duo start living together. Dufort Dufort is Zeno's bookkeeper. He is very silent and reserved, almost to the point of having no emotion, and he has psychic abilities. As for Dufort, his life was a total mystery, until he told his story to Kiyo and Zatch near the end of the Faudo Arc. The story was quite different in the manga from the one in the anime. Anime According to Dufort's story, he was born with powerful psychic abilities. For this reason, he was confined to an asylum, experimented on and possibly abused throughout nearly his entire life. He vowed to destroy humanity for what they did to him in the past. That hatred is what took Zeno's attention and came to release Dufort from the asylum. His most used power from his ability is his perfect accuracy in predicting what his opponent's moves will be. It also gives him telepathy, which lets him read minds and show mental visions, and telekinesis, the ability to move objects with his mind. Dufort generates mental shockwaves when he is emotionally stressed. Manga Dufort's tale has also been revealed as different in the manga: he had been sold to a mad scientist by his own mother for a price of ten thousand dollars. The scientist subsequently performed mental and emotional experiments throughout his childhood, culminating with the passage of his ultimate test leading both to his own freedom and the destruction of the lab (which was done also with the intention to kill Dufort), revealed to be located at the North Pole. He was saved from the destruction of the lab by Zeno, who took him and made him his bookeeper. The manga reveals that Dufort possesses a psychic ability known as "Answer Talker", which allows the user to immediately know the answer to any question. This awakens whenever a human "dies and then returns to life", such as Kiyo himself in the manga after he is killed by the mamodo Riou and then subsequently revived within Faudo tower. Dufort returns to assist the others in fighting Clear Note by telling each of the Mamodo how to get stronger during Clear's ten months of recuperation. When Kiyo asks him why, Dufort replied that he didn't want Zeno to be destroyed in the Mamodo world. History Zeno took interest in the immense tower of the mamodo Faudo from the moment it first arrived in the human world, having done research on the locked away force within in the libraries of his home. After extensive preparation, he immediately took action, leading Kiyo and Zatch towards the tower by the use of a doll-like emissary that told them of the danger about to be revealed. However, while using his brother to help awaken the tower for Riou, all of his works was for his own ambition. Once Faudo was resurrected, Zeno challenged Riou in battle, upon which he immediately crushed him, burned his book and took his control jewel. While he doesn't divert Faudo from its original mission (the destruction of Japan, as instructed by Riou), Zeno awakens the full capability of the beast, giving guardians inside new life and using its power to upgrade many of the mamodo previously fighting under Riou. All of these would give the remaining Mamodo inside one difficult challenge after another as they moved upwards towards the destined showdown with him and Dufort. His book was burned by Zatch, but under radically different circumstances in the manga than in the anime, although in both versions the book is burned as a result of a struggle between Zatch's Bao Zakerga and Zeno's Jigadirasu Uru Zakeruga. In the anime, he is resentful of Zatch right to the bitter end, breaking the jewel that controls Faudo out of spite. In the manga, Zeno becomes aware that Zatch had as hard a childhood as he did, and regrets his own foolishness. The jewel breaks due to Zeno breaking it, and Zeno gives his power to Zatch (the power their father wielded was split between them). Although Dufort's fate is not determined at the end of the anime outside the escape from Faudo, he ends up wandering off in the manga after Zeno goes back, trying to find a purpose after being used for so long. Eventually he uses his "Answer-Talker" abilities to help others whether he wants to or not, finally appreciating everything that both Zeno and Zatch had done for him. He later returns to help Kiyo develop his Answer-Talker ability and to assist in the fight against Clear Note. In conjunction with his Answer-Talker, Dufort opens the heads of other Mamodo (much to Megumi's surprise and horror) in order to determine the training style each needs during the ten-month period while Clear recuperates within Goomu's dimension. He tells Kiyo the reason he is doing this is because he did not want Zeno to die in the Mamodo world. In the original Japanese version, Zeon is voiced by Urara Tak ano and Dufaux is voiced by Hikaru Midorikawa. In the VIZ Media dub, Zeno is voiced by Debi Derryberry (who also voices Zatch) and Dufort is voiced by Dave Wittenberg. VIZ's translations of the manga initially named the character Zeno as in the anime, but newer volumes have him named Zeon as in the original. From Volume 23 onwards it returns to calling him Zeno Other connections with Zatch Once Zatch defeated Robnos, he tells to Kiyo about a mysterious boy that looks like him (Zeno) in England, where the duo go on Kiyo's vacation to investigate the history from Robnos. In England, Kiyo searches for his father, because it was him who found Zatch in the forest, but with some clues left by Zeno, the duo discovers that Kiyo's father was taken as a prisoner at Baltro and Steng' castle. After Baltro and Steng escape from Kiyo and Zatch, they meet Zeno, who quickly burn their book with a strong lightning spell from the sky, most likely a Barugirudo Zakeruga. While still in England, Kiyo and Zatch go to the forest where Prof. Takamine found Zatch to discover about his past. Soon they're surprised by Tia and Megumi, who have also seen a boy who looks like Zatch. In the forest, Kiyo and Zatch see the place where "it happened", and after having contact with it, Zatch remembers that it was Zeno who erased his memory for unknown reasons. During one of Kiyo's school days, he meets Apollo only to be told Rops' spell book was burned by Zeno during an accidental meeting. Zeno is only seen again in the Faudo Arc. Spells Zeno's ability is lightning. However, unlike Zatch's, his lightning is blue, and instead of coming from his mouth, his lightning comes out of his hand. Video Game Only Note: While the following five spells are only used in video games, Makoto Raiku later confirmed that Zeno does not have them in the manga. Spellbooks they burned *Baltro, in London (for failing to defeat Zatch and Kiyo) (episode 20) *Rops, in the countryside of Holland (episode 42) *Zaruchimu, in Faudo's control room (episode 147 anime only) *Riou, outside of Faudo's control room (episode 147) *Riya, in Faudo's control room (episode 148 anime only) *Cherish, in a main hallway in Faudo (chapter 265 manga only) Gallery Zeondufaux.png Trivia *In the Clear Note Arc, Dufort is seen to have a habit of saying, "You're pretty stupid, uh?" when responding to questions he feels have obvious answers, which irritates Sherry and Tia. Sherry later pictures a typical conversation between Zeno and Dufort, where Dufort says Zeno must be "pretty stupid". *In episode 42 of the anime, Zeno stopped Dufort before he could use a Giga Spell. This was the english dub's name of the spell Jigadirasu Uru Zakeruga. Category:Characters Category:Evil Characters Category:Mamodo Category:Male Characters Category:Four Mamodo Prodigies Category:Humanoid Mamodo Category:Current Battle Mamodo Category:Major Enemies Category:Humans Category:Enemies of Zatch Bell